About March 27, the battery pack indicated that it needed to be charged. I placed it in the charger. The charger ran through the charging sequence, but, when it indicated that the pack was charging, the indicator switched to full charged in about 30 seconds. When I placed the battery in the Drill/Driver, the tool worked when I pushed the trigger the first time, but it ceased to operate on the second push of the trigger. (However, the charger worked fine with my 4 Craftsman C3 Battery Pack and all of my C3 tools ran well with these Ni-Cad packs.)

After repeated tries to get the Lithium-Ion Battery Pack to charge, I returned the battery pack and charger to Sears in Hicksville, NY (Sales check # 012641090696).for a warranty exchange. I believe I got the last Craftsman C3 19.2 volt Lithium-Ion Battery Pack & Charger (item #033287141609) in the store.

Once I got the new battery pack home, I placed it in the charger. The charger ran through the charging sequence, but, when it indicated that the pack was charging, the indicator switched to full charged in about 30 seconds. When I placed the battery in the Drill/Driver, the tool work ed when I pushed the trigger the first time, but it ceased to operate on the second push of the trigger. Repeated tries elicited the same result.

Since this problem happened with two of the battery packs, I am reluctant to simply exchange the item again. I would prefer to just have the battery pack replaced with one which has been tested and works.

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Joseph - My name is Richard Goldsmith. I'm Craftsman's community engagement manager and I'd love to talk to you more about the problems you're having. Could you email me at richard (dot) goldsmith (at) searshc.com so we can try to address this problem?

I’m happy to report that the subject battery has been replaced with a fully functional one. This outcome was due to the kind intervention of the Craftsman's Community Engagement Manager.This was a problem that needed a contact familiar with the Craftsman line and had technical knowledge. While SEARS Customer Service sincerely tried to help, they don’t have Craftsman-knowledgeable personnel to assist customers.Anyone who uses Craftsman products should join the Craftsman Club.

I have had very similar problems with the Craftsman Lithium Ion battery and have my second bad one right now. Sears claims they do not know of the problems but you can find dead Craftsman 19.2 Lithiums on EBAY. I saw a lot of 5 recently. Obviously they have a problem and are ignoring it right now. I liked the battery when it worked. I drove hundreds of 3 inch screws before it needed charging unfortunately the first one only took the one good charge. The second provided even less use before it died. I am back to using old NiCD that I restored but I would like the Lithium set up I bought to work!

I bought 1st 19.2v battery in a kit with regular charger and drill at sears a few years back I had heard they were good so I bought couple more things in 19.2v at sears so then I bought like 3 used batteries of eBay they werenít priced to high (probably have 10 or more things by now that will work off same battery). Then I see Craftsman 19.2 volt Lithium-Ion Battery so then I ask some questions about them from people who worked at local store I had good luck with my other batteries and they had told me these were even greater than those others the new Craftsman 19.2 v Lithium-Ion Battery had no memory and could be recharged at any time. It seems now I had like same problem that the other person that had, that posted with his issues (yes I spent the $140.or $150.bucks for new charger and battery) I didnít use this to make a living with I drove tractor trailer and being gone 75 to 100 hours a week. A year goes by pretty fast. I have told store owner 2 or 3 times in last couple years. But he seems to want to change subject or have me start over with another kit. Anyway I thought sears should have at least exchanged batteries. Like most middle class working people you will spend $1000ís with SEARS in your life time. I guess I got a lemon. goldrebel

I have the Craftsman 19.2 volt system with the NiCad batteries. I'm not a heavy user so I was really surprised when neither of my two batteries would charge. One was a a couple of years newer than the other.

Just like the original post, the charger would indicate fully charged when there had not been any charging.

When I took a closer look, the some electrical terminals that connect the batteries to the charger and to the drill were corroded. If there are two terminals, the same one was always corroded. For 4 terminal connections, it was always the same two. This is obviously a design flaw - Craftsman chose the wrong metal for the terminals.

The corrosion could lead to a heat buildup and fire. At the least, it could cause a lot of users to just toss the batteries or the whole system in the trash.

I have the Craftsman C3 package. 5 1/2" saw, drill, and light. I got 7 good years of service out of the stock batteries. Then they would no longer hold a charge. I bought new Die Hard C3 packs off Amazon and now they work as good as new.

In response to 65BAJA and ryan50hrl. I wondered about that also at first. That is not the issue. If I take the time to clean the corroded connectors, the batteries fully recharge and are completely useful.

That pretty well shows that the problem is the connectors and not the batteries. Bad design/materials specification by Craftsman. I've never had this on any other rechargable battery system.

I have a lot of Craftsman tools - probably 10-15 but their lack of responsiveness on this issue will make me look further for the next purchase.

About March 27, the battery pack indicated that it needed to be charged. I placed it in the charger. The charger ran through the charging sequence, but, when it indicated that the pack was charging, the indicator switched to full charged in about 30 seconds. When I placed the battery in the Drill/Driver, the tool worked when I pushed the trigger the first time, but it ceased to operate on the second push of the trigger. (However, the charger worked fine with my 4 Craftsman C3 Battery Pack and all of my C3 tools ran well with these Ni-Cad packs.)

After repeated tries to get the Lithium-Ion Battery Pack to charge, I returned the battery pack and charger to Sears in Hicksville, NY (Sales check # 012641090696).for a warranty exchange. I believe I got the last Craftsman C3 19.2 volt Lithium-Ion Battery Pack & Charger (item #033287141609) in the store.

Once I got the new battery pack home, I placed it in the charger. The charger ran through the charging sequence, but, when it indicated that the pack was charging, the indicator switched to full charged in about 30 seconds. When I placed the battery in the Drill/Driver, the tool work ed when I pushed the trigger the first time, but it ceased to operate on the second push of the trigger. Repeated tries elicited the same result.

Since this problem happened with two of the battery packs, I am reluctant to simply exchange the item again. I would prefer to just have the battery pack replaced with one which has been tested and works.

Thank you!
Joseph L. Crivelli
Craftsman Club Member #7071100268094569

Interesting about this problem. I also have the 19.2 lithium drill and battery. I found that after it was fully charged the first time it worked well and for a long time. Then I noticed that as I pulled the trigger the drill would operate for a couple of seconds then quit. I pulled the trigger several more times and the drill would run sometimes but some times it did nothing. As I tried to charge the battery I also noticed it charging for only a short time. Back to the run not run experience. I let the battery sit for a day then tried to charge it again. Again the same problem, but then on the second try that day it charged. Let me know what Sears says. I obviously have the same problem. I want to expand my Craftsman line of lithium powered tolls but not if they are having some issues.